Brock is One!!!!

May/June is a busy time for birthdays in the Smith home, so expect the next couple of posts to birthday posts. It always amazes me how fast time goes while raising these little ones. I'm really trying to enjoy every minute as I know that time does go on and soon enough they will be asking for the keys to the car. I have loved this year with my Brock. He has been such a good baby and it has been so fun to watch his little personality develop. Happy Birthday Brocky!! We love you!!

Happy Birthday Hallie!!

I can't believe our baby girl is now nine!! She is and has always been such a good girl, always trying to do her best in all aspects of her life. We have loved watching her grow and figure out things for herself. For Hallie's birthday we had a luau party. She had so much fun with all her friends and it was fun to see her personality around all those girls. All the girls were talking about what boys they liked but Hallie stuck by her claim and said she doesn't like boys. I am totally fine with that, although I know there will be a day she will. Right now she more focused on beating them in races, she is a little competitive. Happy birthday Hallie, we LOVE you!!

Here is a bunch of pictures from Hallie's party...

My Mother...

I am so grateful for my mother, for her great example and love for all of us children. She was such an example of selflessness as she raised us. I know no better way to show another your love then through unselfish sacrifice!! Thank you mom!!!

Mother's Day

I had a great mother's day and felt so loved. The kids all made me lots of cute cards and Taylor got me the cutest apron!! I love to bake and find any reason to do it. Getting a new apron was definitely a great reason to make some cookies.

Serena's Visit...

We recently had my sister Serena stay with for a couple of weeks. We loved having her here and spending that time with her. Here is a bunch of pictures of her stay with us...















Serena and I had the opportunity to go to BYU Women's Conference. We has such a great day together running in heels back and forth from class to class. We heard many inspiring talks and listened to beautiful musical numbers. It was such an awesome day and I loved spending it with Serena! The time we had together, specifically at Women's Conference, will always be so special to me!


Serena's stay here wouldn't be complete without Chuck-O-Rama!!

Easter Conference weekend

The weekend before Easter my brothers family invited us over for an Easter hunt and dinner, as they would be up in Canada Easter weekend. The kids had so much fun and the dinner was delicious! Thanks guys! Then we did our own thing on the following Friday. It was pretty cold and wet outside so we did a scavenger hunt inside. We all had our fair share of chocolate!!






The day before conference one of Taylor's professors gave us tickets to the Saturday session giving the opportunity for Taylor and I to go just the two of us. Taylor being his go getter self quickly found someone to watch the kids last minute. I was so glad he did, we loved listening to the talks and the beautiful music, there was such a special spirit there. Our bishop also found us three more tickets for the Sunday morning session, so we were also able to take Hallie. We are so grateful for all those who made this all happen for us. It was such a special weekend!

Hallie was so excited to go her very first Conference!!

The student life...

When we made the choice to come down here to BYU we knew it wasn't going to be easy. Taylor is super busy with school and all that goes with it, not to mention the busyness of raising 4 kids. One thing he will say to me when he has to stay late or go back to school to write a test is to "think Hawaii". Well one day we were discussing our food budget and I said to him to just "think yogurt". Yup, that's how poor we are, yogurt has become our luxury. It's funny how your perspective can change through life experiences. We really don't mind not having the extra money, we have learned so much from it. We have learned to budget, we have been better able to discern our needs from our wants and most importantly we have been able to put our trust fully in the Lord and witness his great miracles. We definitely have those days where we wonder how we are going to make it, but we honestly can say that we are loving the whole student experience and the lessons we are learning along the way.